Tag: anxiety

nyshadidntbreakit:

ladyshinga:

You know when you’re watching a movie how INCREDIBLY tense the scene becomes when the music becomes THAT MUSIC? Like a person walking down a hallway isn’t a big deal on its own, but because of the music you KNOW shit’s about to go down.

That’s basically anxiety in a nutshell.

Seriously though. Imagine if real life had background music. You’re going about your day and then suddenly, for no reason whatsoever (because your brain is in charge of your background music and in this case anxiety means its timing is completely fucked up), the tense “shit’s about to go down” music starts. And you’re standing there in a paranoid panic going “WHAT THE FUCK I’M JUST MAKING TOAST HOW THE HELL AM I ABOUT TO DIE WHAT’S ABOUT TO HAPPEN FUCK FUCK FUCK”… and the answer is “nothing”. Nothing’s about to happen. That goddamn background music is lying. But it’s still going to make you tense because that’s what it DOES.

Fuckin’ background music.

Such a perfect description of anxiety.

someone: you were pretty good at that thing, why’d you stop doing it?
me internally: I get extremely anxious when I think about doing something I might possibly succeed at because I base my self-worth on my achievements and other people’s approval, I am afraid because I know I will never be able to live up to my own unrealistic expectations, I hate making mistakes because they make me feel worthless, I take negative feedback too personally, I feel immense guilt over not doing things that I’ve been avoiding which just makes me avoid them more, I feel ashamed and inadequate due to how difficult it is for me to stay committed to anything, I’m worried that I’ll just end up disappointing myself and the entire world, and I am convinced that if I failed I would literally die.
me externally: idk i guess i’ve just been kinda busy lol

ralfmaximus:

littlethingwithfeathers:

iesika:

cryptideridan:

kyleehenke:

how did my ancestors survive the brutal unforgiving wilderness when I get anxiety sweats from going to Target

to be fair im sure your ancestors would have the exact same reaction going to a Target

In the brutal unforgiving wilderness false positives cost nothing and false negatives are expensive. You’re better off being afraid of something that can’t hurt you than not afraid of something that can hurt you.

In a world where we mostly aren’t in danger, day to day, as long as we don’t play in traffic or jump off something, that’s no longer quite as adaptive.

We got our anxiety from a long, unbroken line of ancestors who were scared enough to survive, and pass on those genes! 

It helps me sometimes to think about that at night, when I can’t sleep because my heart is pounding over something like “what if my usually reliable alarm clock doesn’t work in the morning for some reason and I’m late for work and lose my job and everyone hates me.” There’s nothing wrong with me, I just have a lot of extra, unused run-from-tigers juice that my grandparents left me.

“Unused run-from-tigers juice.”

I love that.

Our brains have been running Hunter/Gatherer 1.0 for 60,000 years without a software upgrade.

shesgotwhatittakes:

shesgotwhatittakes:

While cleaning out my room I found a paper that my therapist gave me some time ago to deal with obsessive and intrusive thoughts. Sorry the paper is a little crinkled and stained, but I figured I’d post it in hopes that it will help someone like it helped me.

Here it is again with text for anyone who can’t see the picture

  • That thought isn’t helpful right now.
  • Now is not the time to think about it. I can think about it later.
  • This is irrational. I’m going to let it go.
  • I won’t argue with an irrational thought.
  • This is not an emergency. I can slow down and think clearly about what I need.
  • This feels threatening and urgent, but it really isn’t.
  • I don’t have to be perfect to be OK.
  • I don’t have to figure out this question. The best thing to do is just drop it.
  • It’s OK to make mistakes.
  • I already know from my past experiences that these fears are irrational.
  • I have to take risks in order to be free. I’m willing to take this risk.
  • It’s OK that I just had that thought/image, and it doesn’t mean anything. I don’t have to pay attention to it.
  • I’m ready to move on now.
  • I can handle being wrong.
  • I don’t have to suffer like this. I deserve to feel comfortable.
  • That’s not my responsibility.
  • That’s not my problem.
  • I’ve done the best I can.
  • It’s good practice to let go of this worry. I want to practice.